Pirates Travel to Marquette, DePaul this Weekend

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2016
SETON HALL (14-14, 8-7) at
MARQUETTE (21-5, 11-3)
Al McGuire Center – Milwaukee, Wis.
4:00 p.m. ET
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2016
SETON HALL (14-14, 8-7) at DE PAUL (13-13, 7-7)
McGrath-Phillips Arena – Chicago, Ill.
1:00 p.m. ET
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER

PREVIEW
After four straight home matches, the Seton Hall women's volleyball team will return to the road this weekend for a pair of BIG EAST Conference matches. On Saturday, the Pirates will travel to Milwaukee for a match at Marquette at 4:00 pm ET. The following day, The Hall will take on DePaul in Chicago. Match time for that contest is scheduled for 1:00 pm ET.

Last weekend, The Hall won a pair of conference home matches at Walsh Gym. The Pirates defeated Georgetown in four sets thanks to a career-high 22 kills from junior Dominique Mason. On Saturday, they edged Villanova in five sets. Senior Danielle Schroeder notched a season-high 19 kills, while Mason added 16 of her own. Sophia Coffey tallied her seventh double-double of the season, and senior Tessa Fournier recorded a match-high 23 digs.

Marquette enters Saturday's contest with an overall record of 21-5 and an 11-3 mark in BIG EAST Conference play. They have won three straight and nine of their last 10 matches. Most recently, the Golden Eagles swept DePaul in Milwaukee in their lone match last weekend. Earlier this year, Marquette defeated Seton Hall in four sets in Walsh Gym on Oct. 8. Schroeder led the Pirates with 13 kills, while Fournier had a match-high 25 digs.

DePaul enters the weekend with a 13-13 record overall and a 7-7 mark in the BIG EAST. After a strong start to conference play, the Blue Demons have struggled lately, winning just two of their last eight matches. Last weekend, they were swept twice on the road, at Villanova and at Marquette. Earlier this year, the Blue Demons rallied to stun the Pirates in Walsh Gym in five sets. Sophomore Abby Thelen had 16 kills to lead four Pirates who reached double-figures in the category. Freshman Haylee Gasser notched a career-high 12 kills.

The contest at DePaul is specifically significant since the Blue Demons are just a half game behind the Pirates in the standings. Villanova, Seton Hall and DePaul are all vying for one playoff spot and are separated by just one game.

SETON HALL NOTES
PLAYOFF PICTURE
The top four teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament in Indianapolis. With three or four games remaining for each team, Creighton (14-0), Marquette (11-3), Xavier (9-5) and Villanova (8-6) currently occupy those spots. Creighton has clinched a berth. Seton Hall (8-7) is just a half game behind Villanova for the final spot. DePaul (7-7) is only one game behind and Butler is two games behind at 6-8.

PIRATES OUTLAST WILDCATS
Danielle Schroeder recorded a season-high 19 kills, and Dominique Mason added 16 more as the Pirates defeated Villanova in five sets on Saturday. The Hall won the first two sets, but dropped sets three and four, before a strong fifth set put it over the top. Sophia Coffey notched her seventh double-double of the season.

HALL TAMES HOYAS
Dominque Mason registered a career-high 22 kills and Sophia Coffey had a season-high 48 assists as the Pirates downed Georgetown in four sets on Friday. Abby Thelen tallied 11 kills.

MASON NAMED TO HONOR ROLL
Junior Dominique Mason was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. The outside hitter erupted for a career-high 22 kills, with only three attack errors, for an impressive .487 attack percentage in a four-set victory over Georgetown on Friday. She followed that performance with a 16-kill night against Villanova on Saturday.

1,000 KILLS
On Saturday vs. Villanova, senior Danielle Schroeder became the 10th player in Seton Hall history to reach the 1,000-kill milestone. She's currently 10th on the Pirates' career kills list and needs only 20 more to move past former Pirate Perette Arrington for ninth place.

FOURNIER NOTCHES 2,000TH
With 22 digs at Butler, senior Tessa Fournier became only the second player in Seton Hall history to amass 2,000 career digs. Only Alyssa Warren has more career digs with 2,381.

NEW SHU PIRATES APP
Seton Hall Athletics and SIDEARM Sports have launched the new SHU Pirates App that delivers news and content about all 14 varsity programs to fans via their smartphones. The app is available to download for FREE on both the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play store for Android devices.

41 IN LESS THAN 48
Abby Thelen had 20 kills at Xavier on Oct. 21 and 21 kills at Butler on Oct. 22. Her 41 kills over two consecutive days are the most by a Pirate since Stacey Manthorpe had 41 on Nov. 14 (19) and Nov. 15, 2014 (22).

MOST KILLS IN A THREE-SET MATCH
Abby Thelen's career-high 21 kills at Butler on Oct. 22 are the most kills by any BIG EAST player in a single conference three-set match this season. Furthermore, it's the most kills in a three-set match for a Pirate since Katherine Whitney had 22 in a three-set loss at Manhattan on Nov. 5, 2003.

FOURNIER NAMED "CLASS" CANDIDATE
Senior Tessa Fournier was one of only 30 student-athletes nationwide to be named a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate volleyball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

FOURNIER PASSES MATTERS
With 25 digs against Marquette on Oct. 8, senior Tessa Fournier passed former Pirate and current assistant coach Allie Matters for second on the Seton Hall career digs list. Former teammate Alyssa Warren is the Pirates' all-time leader with 2,381.

COFFEY MOVES INTO EIGHTH
With 43 assists vs. Butler on Sept. 23, sophomore Sophia Coffey moved past former Pirate Nichole Bushroe for eighth on the all-time list. She needs 205 more to pass Beata Jastrzembski for seventh on the list.

FREE PIRATES SPORTS NETWORK
For the first time ever, all live events on the Pirates Sports Network (PSN) will be carried free of charge on SHUpirates.com. You can now see all home volleyball contests live from Walsh Gym in 2016 for free.